What She Hates
by crashthrough
Summary: Rose Weasley just wants to be something, anything. She's not being insecure or desperate, it's just a well-known fact. This is something she's always known, something that she'll be forever.


**Hello! So, this isn't exactly great, but it can't be horrible, right? Actually, it can be.**

**I have tense problems, so, please point out anything that's incorrect. **

**If you thought Harry Potter was mine, first, you should have been totally jealous, and then I'd advise you to grow a brain. No offense intended. **

The day the Earth stops spinning will be the day Alice stops being so insecure. Rose doesn't understand how somebody so close to _perfect _could be so far away from knowing it. How could anyone not? Alice Longbottom, so pretty, so kind, and so smart, is certainly in the top ten on Rose's List Of Stupid People.

How Alice manages to gain all of the boys attention and still have such a low self-esteem, is an enigma to Rose. She doesn't think it's fair, that Alice still feels terrible despite her amazing characteristics.

Alice offends Rose quite often. Because if someone like Alice could think of themselves so insubstantially, then what does she think of everyone else?

Another handsome boy walks over and sits next to Alice. William Finnegan, sixth year, one year ahead of both Rose and Alice, prefect, perfect candidate for next year's head boy position, and captain of the Ravenclaw quidditch team.

Rose sees William attempt to talk to Alice. He makes a joke, smiles, and asks her if she wants another helping of pumpkin pie. Though Rose is sitting another table away, she knows exactly what William is doing, because each guy before him has done the same routine.

And this is the part where Alice fakes a shy smile back, shakes her head, gathers her things and practically flees back to the Ravenclaw Common Room. Rose wants to slam her head into her mashed potatoes and curse at Alice, telling her that, "Your beautiful and everyone adores you so cut the crap and accept it because it's so fucking annoying how you think nobody likes you."

She almost did, once, when Alice apologized and starting picking up Rose's things even though it was Rose who ran into Alice. Rose felt like bursting into tears of frustration and ripping Alice to shreds, but of course, being the nice girl she is, she said in a strained tone, "Dammit. Alice, thank you. It's not your fault. Just go to your next class."

She lost her appetite, thanks to Alice. She stands up and walks purposefully across the Great Hall, back to the Gryffindor Common room.

Its really not fair, Rose thinks. If she were so perfect, she would_ know. _She would be popular, she would have admirers, she would have a _boyfriend_.

Not that she wanted one, anyway.

It would be kind of nice, though, if somebody could just inform her of one thing that was good about her, because she certainly couldn't.

"What?" A sudden voice startles Rose and makes her scrunch her eyebrows together. She knows that voice. Malfoy.

The very same Malfoy who girls flock around, gluing themselves up against his side and hanging on for dear life. The Malfoy with a sharp nose, piercing eyes, and ruffle-worthy blonde hair who never never ever spoke to her. Ever.

Scorpius Malfoy. Arrogant bastard who wouldn't spare a glance to girls like her because he simply didn't _see_ them.

"What?" She asks defensively.

His eyes glance at her with amusement, "You know, Weasley. That pillow isn't going anywhere." He was talking about the cushion she was currently staring daggers at, well, before she started glaring at Malfoy.

"Your intelligence astounds me, Malfoy. Really. Tell me more," Rose scowls.

He chuckles, as much as a Malfoy can, "Well, what's going on with you?"

Rose eyes him carefully, when she's suddenly realizes something and frowns, "What are you doing here, Malfoy? Aren't you supposed to be in the Great Hall, eating lunch?"

He shrugs, not quite meeting her eyes when he says, "I'm not hungry."

She grins, "Oh really? There's no chance, that you might have been _followed _me here?" She knows it's a long stretch, because he's Scorpius and would never look twice at her. But she takes the chance because his answer isn't supposed to matter.

"Of course not!" He replies, flustered at such an accusation, and something tightens in her chest.

"So...you needed to get to your dorm or something?" She asks rather stupidly because she can't think of anything else to say.

Scorpius' eyebrows scrunch together, "No, actually, I wanted to ask you something."

"So you _did _follow me here!"

Scorpius ignores her, and he looks at her oddly before asking, "Why do you hate her?"

"Who?"

"Alice. Why do you hate Alice?"

He's not supposed to know that. She' never told that to anyone, just because she knew nobody would agree. But she doesn't notice what he's not supposed to know and flushes.

"I don't! We're...we're friends! I don't!"

Scorpius has a look on his face that says he doesn't believe a word of her response. She sighs, "Fine. I don't hate _her_, but I'm not terribly fond of people _like_ her."

This puzzled the younger Malfoy, "People like her...?"

"You know. That cliché. Girls who are amazing but don't even know it. Not until some charming bloke convinces her of it. Like that muggle song 'What Makes You Beautiful' by some British boy band."

"What?"

"Never mind. You wouldn't know of it unless you've talked to Lily." It was true. The youngest Potter has somewhat of an infatuation with the band.

"So, why do you hate people like her?" He asks, still confused.

"Why? Because, they're stupid! If they're so amazing, they should know! How could one not possibly know? And it's not fair to people who are just... plain." Her fierce tone drops several levels, when she speaks the last word because she realized that plain is what she is. It's what she'll always be.

"You're not plain." He says this quietly and quickly, too quickly, but she's too wrapped up in her own thoughts to notice.

"I'm not _interesting_. Let's face it. I'm not anything! I'm not smart, dumb, pretty, ugly, athletic, clumsy, kind, rude, funny, confident, insecure...I'm not even _plain_! I can't-, I'll might have as well be non-existent."

She expects him to snort, to tease, but the annoyed expression he wears says otherwise, "You can be so dense sometimes, you know that?"

She fumed. Yes. Yes, she did know. Why is he even talking to her? He _never_ talks to her. "Why do you even care?"

He let out a noise of frustration, "Don't you get it, Rose?" He grabs her shoulders and shakes her, "You're exactly like that, Rose! You. Are. Exactly. What. You. Hate."

What does that even mean? "That almost sounds like a compliment," Rose mutters.

He has to breathe deeply four or five times before he can reply without breaking anything, "Dammit, Rose. I'm not going to tell you how beautiful and perfect you are because you should _know." _He spits her words back in her face and she can't argue. They _were_ her words, weren't they?

She's still clearly confused because it takes her several moments to register his words. "You're saying, that people admire me, that _boys_ like _me_?"

Scorpius sighed impatiently, "Yes, Weasley."

"So why don't they just ask me out?"

"They try to! Do you really not know? Plenty of blokes try to get your attention!"

"Like who?"

"Remember when Anthony Thomas was talking to you about the Charms lesson last week? Or when Lucas Zambini asked if you could study with him? Or maybe when Tyler Nott offered to teach you how to ride a broom?" Wait...what? Three of the most handsome boys in Hogwarts interested in her, and she (unintentionally) turned them down?

"I didn't think-, they weren't-, there is no way they were..." she stammers, searching for the right words.

"Hitting on you?" Scorpius fills in. "Don't be silly, Weasley. Of course they were."

That's almost upsetting, because she's been interested in Lucas for nearly two years, but never really thought about asking him out. It was kind of the same thing with Scorpius, where being friends with a popular (obnoxious) guy like him is so unrealistic it doesn't even cross her mind. "Thanks Malfoy!"

He scrambles to his feet from the red armchair he was occupying (though she didn't even remember him sitting down) "Where you going?"

"Going to see Lucas Zambini, of course. To see if he still wants to study."

Scorpius' eyes widens, "Rose, I-"

She cut him off. "Do you think he's still interested?"

"Umm...yeah. But I wanted to-"

"Great! See you around. Later!" And she was gone. Slipping away from him, completely clueless, and an overwhelming sense of deja vu washes over him.

Oh _hell_ no. He was not going to let her get away. He starts walking quickly after her. "Rose! Rose! Wait, Rose!"

She spins on her heel to face him, "Yeah?"

"Ah..." he was suddenly feeling a little troubled, "Remember what I said about many blokes trying to get your attention?"

She raises an eyebrow, "Yes?"

"Well, perhaps you should keep a better look-out for them."

Rose smiled, "Don't worry, I will."

She can't be sure, but it looks like his steely eyes look almost, disappointed, "But you haven't."

She frowned, what other guy did she miss now? She can't really think, because suddenly he was two steps closer than he was before and it made her slightly uncomfortable.

"Because if you were, then you would know, " He whispered, still inching toward her. "that _I_ was trying to get your attention." He leaned in, and brushed his lips against hers.

"Wait," She stepped back, hands on her hips.

Exasperated, he opened his eyes and groaned.

"You like me?"

What the hell is wrong with this girl? "I thought that was pretty clear," he mumbles, downtrodden.

She looks at him with skeptical eyes and he could tell she was thinking hard by the way her tongue swept over her mouth several times. Her shoulders slumped suddenly, disappointed. "But, that doesn't make any sense. Why me? Why not Alice? If we're so similar. Why don't you like her?"

He shrugged, not really sure of himself. He looked around for inspiration and pulled at his perfectly tousled blonde hair, "Why shouldn't I like you?" he counters lamely, because he's stuck, for once in his life he can't find a suitable response to her.

She frowns, and opens and closes her mouth several times before attempting a response, "Because!" She starts, "Because there is absolutely nothing to like about me!" Her heart sinks down, and she feels rather foolish, confessing something so self-deprecating to someone she doesn't even know.

"But there is." His voice is so soft she has to look twice to make sure it's still _Malfoy_ she's talking to.

Her face softens, but the undeniable feeling of remorse doesn't, "Then tell me. Give me just one word that explains who I am." She'd never admit it, but it's hard to find something that stands out in her. Something that sets her apart from just being dull. Because she knows so many amazing people and she knows that each person has something unique about them, but she can't find one of her own strengths. It didn't even have to extravagant, just something as simple as pretty, smart, funny, charismatic, athletic-

"Indescribable."

Her head snaps up to look at him clearly and her eyes widen considerably. The word is simple, yet, the way he says it makes it sound so much more than simple coming from his mouth. She's never really thought of herself that way, but 'indescribable' sounds almost like an asset.

Incredibly awkward silence ensues, in which a certain blonde is looking sincere and a red head is extremely flustered.

"Wha-...what?" She stumbles, searching for a clear thought, trying to grasp a sense of rationality to make sense of his description.

"You're indescribable. I can't explain it," he tugs at his shockingly white blonde hair. "It's something you have to understand yourself. You're just..._Rose,_" He stops there, satisfied, as if being just _Rose _was an explanation in itself.

"But-...but, you don't even know me!"

"Rose? It's what you are. I don't know. I can't-, you're-...I like you! Okay? _I like you._"

She doesn't believe what she's hearing because it's so far-off from what she was expecting and she physically has to cover her ears with her hands and shut her eyes to block him out.

"Rose?" It doesn't work. She can still hear.

"Just give me a minute, Scorpius."

She never ever thought she would end up int this position. Rose was a planner, she had a plan for ever scenario, - be it horrifying, rational, far-fetched, certain or wild- but for some reason, she never imagined this. Really, how could she expect the most fawned over boy in Hogwarts to pay _her_ an (almost) compliment? Because "indescribable" could mean a whole plethora of things, many of which are far from being a word of praise. Perhaps it was the way he said it, because she knew it was the most truthful thing he's ever said.

It was true, wasn't it?

She didn't really have time to ponder over that, because she felt soft lips on hers, and she felt that whether or not he was telling the truth didn't matter because of the mass electricity explosion that occurred shortly after.

"Okay," she says, loving the feel of his eyelashes as they flutter on her skin, "Okay."

He smiles, "How could you not possibly _know_?" And finally, Rose Weasley knows something. Scorpius Malfoy has a way of stealing her words and making it sound like his own. Arrogant bastard.


End file.
